You Turn Into The Person Others Need You To Be
by ChloeHollingsworth
Summary: What happened to Tony's mother? We all know she died when Tony was 8, but how? And what happens when her death is brought to the surface? MAJOR PAPABEAR GIBBS!
1. Chapter 1

It was a slow day for Gibbs' team. There wasn't a case, which meant endless hours of incredibly boring and seemingly pointless paperwork. The bullpen had been silent all day. Gibbs was attempting to check his email, but got frustrated and unplugged his computer. He then looked up from his desk and began watching his team. McGee had fallen asleep with his head resting on his keyboard, Ziva was also sleeping at her desk. Gibbs glanced at his senior field agent's desk, fully expecting him to be asleep as well, but saw Tony wide awake and staring into oblivion. Gibbs walked across the bullpen to stand in front of Tony's desk.

"Can't sleep, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked sarcastically. Tony looked up at Gibbs as if just noticing he had been standing there.

"What?" Gibbs realized Tony hadn't heard him, but decided against repeating himself.

"Something wrong, Tony?" Tony glanced down at his desk where a cold case file lay open. Gibbs followed his gaze down to the desk as Tony shut the file.

"No. I'm just a little out of it right now. I didn't get much sleep last night, I had a date and you know how that goes…" Tony said coolly with his usual cocky attitude. Gibbs automatically recognized this as Tony's way of deflecting in order to hide the truth.

"Steak tonight at my place," Gibbs said as he headed back to his desk.

"Actually, I had plans tonight -"

"Be there at nine," Gibbs said in a voice that said the topic was not up for discussion.

"Right, boss," Tony said, defeated.

He exited the bullpen without as much as a glance back at his agent.

Gibbs had told his team to head home around eight, which they obliged to gladly. After his team was gone, Gibbs stood up and approached DiNozzo's desk. He immediately noticed that the top of the desk was cleared off, which shouldn't have come as a surprise because it was normal for Tony to keep his space clean, but something still felt wrong to Gibbs. He sat down in his senior agent's chair and opened the drawer shifting items around until he found what he was looking for. He pulled the file out and began examining its contents.

The case was from over 20 years ago. The victim was a young woman, who had bled out after a vicious beating. She had been kept in a basement and tortured for an extended period of time. There were signs of sexual assault. Her murderer was never found and the case went cold. Gibbs didn't know why Tony was looking at this. He was about to close the file when he noticed the name of the victim.

Sarah Paddington.

Tony's mother.

_**It's boring, I know. But it's just a slow start, I swear! I hope you all enjoyed this anyway!**_

_**Let me know your thoughts(: **_

_**Also, if anyone out there want to beta this hit me up!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: I want to thank all my reviewers real quick! Your input means so much to me! Special thanks to my amazing beta Lauren Alfiler! Without you, this story would go nowhere and make absolutely no sense at all. All mistakes are my own! **_

Gibbs slammed the drawer of Tony's desk shut without returning the file. Grabbing his jacket, he went immediately for the elevator, file in hand.

Gibbs got to his house around 8:30 and was a little surprised to see his senior field agent's car was already in the driveway. He entered his house to see Tony sitting on his couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table, a beer in his hand.

"Hope you don't mind, boss, I helped myself," Tony said, gesturing to the beer he was holding.

"Mi casa es su casa," Gibbs muttered with a hint of sarcasm. Tony just continued drinking his beer. Gibbs stood in front of the coffee table and stared down at him. He shifted slightly, uncomfortable under his boss' intense gaze. "I saw the file," Gibbs said calmly, holding it in his hands. Tony's face dropped, but he made eye contact.

"You looked through my desk?" Tony questioned accusingly. Gibbs continued to stare at him.

"I did," He said coolly.

"Why? Why would you do that? You had no right," Tony began, anger evident in his tone. Tony wasn't really upset that Gibbs had gone through his desk. No, he just didn't want Gibbs involved in this. Not yet, anyway. He wasn't even ready to deal with this himself, let alone drag his boss into it.

"I needed to know what was going on with you."

"You could have just asked me!" Gibbs scoffed at this. Yeah, he could have asked, but he never would have gotten an answer. Tony would have deflected like he always does.

"You wouldn't have told me." Tony knew Gibbs was right.

"Maybe I didn't want you to know, you ever consider that?" Gibbs seemed to contemplate this. _'Just like Grenouille, why can't you trust me, DiNozzo' _thought Gibbs.

"Yes. And I don't know why you're so intent on keeping this from me."

"Because it doesn't concern you!" snapped Tony, and he was quickly on his feet and standing pretty close to Gibbs.

"You never told me your mother was murdered."

"Well, it's not something that typically comes up," Tony said sarcastically.

"You could have mentioned it," Gibbs replied coldly in response to Tony's anger. Tony laughed an insane, humorless laugh.

"Yeah, I could imagine that conversation. 'Hey, Gibbs, my mother was murdered when I was 8, just thought I'd throw that out there."

"You should have told me, Tony," Gibbs said, sounding hurt.

"Like you told me about Shannon and Kelly, right?" Tony knew he was being cruel. Bringing up Gibbs' family was the lowest blow, but he didn't care right now. He wanted Gibbs to know how upset he was, wanted Gibbs to feel as upset as he did. Gibbs stared at him, not saying anything. Tony figured Gibbs was probably deciding how to kill him. Gibbs was trying his hardest to keep his anger in check. It hurt that Tony would use his family as a way to get a rise out of Gibbs, but it just served to make Gibbs even more concerned for his senior field agent. Tony would only bring up Shannon and Kelly if he was really hurting, so Gibbs was determined not to snap at him.

"Why are you looking at her case, DiNozzo?"

"Oh, you know, I just kind of figured I was allowed to look into my own mother's death. Sorry, I didn't realize I needed your permission."

"Why now?" Tony's gaze only faltered for half a second, but that was long enough for Gibbs to catch it. "What's going on, Tony?" Tony sat back down on the couch, his face drained of color. Suddenly, Tony stood up and walked out the front door, not bothering to shut it behind him.

"Tony. DiNozzo. DINOZZO!" Gibbs yelled after his agent, but Tony was already out the door. Gibbs stared after him, not knowing whether or not he should follow. He tore his gaze from his front door and was about to go upstairs when Tony walked back in, 2 files in his hand.

Tony stopped about 3 feet in front of Gibbs and held the files out to him. Gibbs took the files from Tony's outstretched hand, his gaze never leaving his senior field agent. Until the curiosity to finally learn what has been bugging Tony got to him and he moved to the couch and took a seat. He halfway expected Tony to follow, but Tony stayed rooted to his spot. Tony was glancing around the room, looking at everything but Gibbs. He opened one of the files, the picture inside automatically catching his eye. The victim, a woman presumably in her thirties, was beaten to a pulp. Barbed wire restrained her to a chair. She had no clothes on and every visible inch of her skin was a gruesome shade of purple. That was not what was disturbing, though. Her eyes were gone, leaving two empty black holes. Tearing his eyes from the crime scene photo, Gibbs opened the other file. The photo showed a little girl who couldn't have been a day older than 4. She was dressed as one of the Disney princesses, a costume that Kelly used to wear. But Gibbs had to shake those memories away. It is Tony's demons that need to be faced tonight.

He could see that her skinny arms were chained to the wall. Her eyes were closed, her face flawless. She looked like she was sleeping rather than dead, except for the dark, hand shaped bruises on her neck that contrasted against the paleness of her skin. Gibbs looked at the report. Under her costume she was far from unharmed. There were deep lacerations on her back, like she had been whipped repeatedly. Bruises covered all of her skin that was hidden beneath her dress.

Gibbs took a deep breath and shut the file. Both of the victims had been kept in a basement. They had both been tortured for extended periods of time. Sexual assault was a given. There murderers were never found and their cases went cold. Just like Tony's mother.

"Tony, how did you find these other cases?"

"They were left on my doorstep."

Gibbs looked up at Tony. Tony made eye contact with Gibbs before uttering two simple words, but words that held so much power, so much emotion in them.

"He's back."

_**I' m a fairly new writer, so this isn't that great, I know. But hey, I'm trying! **_

_**Again, I am sorry they're so OOC!**_

_**Let me know your thoughts(:**_


	3. Chapter 3

Good news! Starting December first, I will be posting a new chapter for all of my stories for the 25 days of Christmas. That's right - that's 25 new chapters. Just my way of saying thank you to all of my wonderful readers and reviewers!


	4. Chapter 4

RECAP FROM LAST CHAPTER: Gibbs took a deep breath and shut the file. Both of the victims had been kept in a basement. They had both been tortured for extended periods of time. Sexual assault was a given. There murderers were never found and their cases went cold. Just like Tony's mother.

"Tony, how did you find these other cases?"

"They were left on my doorstep."

Gibbs looked up at Tony. Tony made eye contact with Gibbs before uttering two simple words, but words that held so much power, so much emotion in them.

"He's back."

NEW CHAPTER:

Gibbs looked back down at the files, studying them closely. "These are official reports. Probably the local police department."

Tony nodded his head, having already come to the same conclusion much earlier when he had spent hours staring fixedly at the files.

"When did you get these, Tony?"

"Three days ago."

Gibbs's head snapped up at this. His steely blue eyes boring holes in his senior field agent. "Why the hell did you wait three day to bring this to me, DiNozzo?"

Tony flinched slightly, not only noticing the obvious anger in his boss's tone but also catching the way Gibbs had switched back to addressing him by his last name. "I'm sorry, boss."

"Don't apologize."

"Right, sign of weakness. Sorry. God, I," Tony let out a loud sigh, "I know you hate when I apologize, but I am sorry, Gibbs. I should have come to you with this. It was stupid of me not to."

"It's fine, Tony."

Gibbs set the files down on his coffee table, far from gently, and headed into his kitchen. No words needed to be spoken for Tony to know that he was supposed to follow. He hesitated only a second before following his boss. Gibbs was going through his fridge, his back to Tony, when he heard his senior agent sit on a stool at the counter. He didn't bother turning around to address Tony.

"You have any idea who this could be?"

Tony was silent for a few minutes, causing Gibbs to look his way. "Tony?"

"I don't know who this is."

"Why would someone give this to you?"

"I'm not sure, boss. I think my mother might have been the first victim. I don't know, though. I don't even know if these cases are related."

"You think it's a coincidence?"

"I don't know. I mean, it could be, right?"

"You know how I feel about coincidences, Tony."

"Yeah. Yeah, I know. It's a dumb thought. Why would anyone drop these files off on my door step if they weren't related?"

"Someone's toying with you."

"Why?"

"Hoping you might have that answer, DiNozzo."

"Right. I don't, though."

Gibbs grabbed the steaks off the counter before exiting the kitchen and headed out to his grill. Tony slid off his stool and wandered back into the living room. A half hour later Gibbs walked into the living room with the two steaks and two bottles of beer in hand. He sat down on the old worn-out couch next to Tony, setting the steaks and beers down on the coffee table in front of them. Tony hadn't so much as blinked since Gibbs had entered the room. He stared blankly at the wall in front of him, hands clasped so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

"You okay, Tony?"

Tony didn't respond. The only indication that he had even registered Gibbs's presence was the fact that his gaze had shifted from the wall in front of him to his hands in his lap. Gibbs reached a hand out slowly and placed it on Tony's shoulder. Tony flinched violently and Gibbs hesitantly removed his hand, not wanting to pull back from his agent but also not wanting to upset Tony further. "

"Tony?"

Tony shook his head slightly. "I'm fine."

"Tony."

Tony slowly unfurled his clenched hands and reached for the already open beer waiting for him on the coffee table. After taking a long swig, he set the bottle back down and grabbed the steak. He ate without a word or a glance at Gibbs.

"This, uh, steak's real good," Tony blurted out awkwardly when the silence became too much for him to bare. Gibbs said nothing in return, but continued to watch Tony. "I'm sorry about… all of this," Tony muttered, gesturing at the two files that still lay on the table.

"Tony. You have nothing to apologize for."

"It's really not that big of a deal, you know? I mean, she died when I was eight. It - it doesn't even matter now. It was so long ago."

"Just because something happened a long time ago, doesn't mean it stops mattering."

"I was only eight. I hardly remember her."

"What do you remember?"

"I - I remember f-finding her. After, I mean."

"You found your mother?"

Tony hesitated for a moment. "Yes."

"How?"

"She was in the basement."

"The file said that. The file didn't say she was found in her own basement."

"She wasn't. I mean, she didn't live there. She hadn't for a while. It was my father's house."

"I didn't know your parents split up."

"They didn't. Not exactly. My mom was a - she had a- I mean, she -" Tony stopped talking, rubbing a hand roughly over his face. "She was on medication. And she drank. A lot. So she went to a treatment facility. She'd been gone for over a year before…before I found her in the basement."

"And she was dead when you found her?"

"Yes. She - her eyes were gouged out."

"I'm sorry, Tony."

"Yeah, it was pretty scary for an eight year old."

"It's pretty scary for anyone."

"Gibbs?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I tell you something?"

"You know you can, Tony."

"I - I know who killed her."

Gibbs tried to keep all signs of his anger out of his voice. Tony had known and that was infuriating, but this was a sensitive subject. "Who?"

"My father."


End file.
